Empowering Colorado (https://empoweringcolorado.org/category/journalism/)
Today, Empowering Colorado announces it is shutting down operations and bringing an end to a three-year effort to create a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to providing news coverage of energy development and its local impact.
Developing energy policy and providing regulatory oversight over energy companies in Colorado is a nuanced and complicated process. By design, it is influenced by business, political interests and advocacy organizations. To maintain some semblance of representative government, the system relies upon advocacy organizations to speak for segments of society and weigh-in on the potential impacts of policies and/or regulations. Many of these organizations work tirelessly on behalf of their members, constituents or target audiences and provide helpful input on legislation and regulatory matters.
To many lawmakers, allowing laymen to actively participate in the process would gum up the works…This is where news media, comprised of experienced journalists, plays an important role. Aware of the issues at stake and the nuance involved in policy matters, reporters and editors know when important issues merit news coverage and the public’s attention.